The Day Harry Potter Died
by J R LeDoux
Summary: The day that Harry Potter died started like any other day, one might say. In fact, as we will soon find, that is perhaps the absolute perfect description you could give to this morning. Lots of different pairings due to time looping.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **::XX::XX::**

 **Foreword:** I was particularly unsatisfied with how this story came together over the later chapters I'd published. It started as a really light-hearted, low-effort story that I wrote on because I wanted a change of pace. But I quickly realized that this story had the potential to be much more. With that in mind, I wrote (the old) chapter 6, and after doing so I immediately felt that the rest of the story just didn't live up to the chapter I had written.

So, because of that, I decided to rewrite this story. The early chapters (mainly chapter 1 and chapter 2) will have important but minor changes... copy edits, and better writing mainly. But from chapter 3 onward, the story that I wrote will be different. Better I hope.

Please know that I'm taking this story somewhat seriously now. I have it outlined, I actually created a Scrivener project for it and made a story bible for it... those sorts of things. All that is to say that there is very little in the story that isn't there for a reason now. You will indeed learn about the things that are teased at, you will learn about what is causing things to happen, and so on. Not all at once, not even soon, but it will come.

This includes (but is not limited to):

\- Why Voldemort chose today, and seems set upon today no matter what

\- Why the time loops begin and continue

\- What the various characters are up to and what their involvement in this is

This story will be Ron/Luna for basically the whole thing, but the (final) pairing for Harry will only come much later.

 **::XX::XX::**

The day that Harry Potter died started like any other day, one might say. In fact, as we will soon find, that is perhaps the absolute perfect description you could give to this morning.

Harry awoke with a bit of a jolt. Although he'd slept soundly last night, and felt fully rested, movement in the dorm had been what brought him out of his sleep, and as Harry opened his eyes, he just caught the sight of Neville leaving the room. Harry looked at the window. It couldn't be much later than 6:30...

Annoyed, Harry turned over, and decided to sleep a bit more. He didn't know if he'd fallen back asleep, (it certainly didn't feel like it), but some time had seemed to pass, and by the time Harry had become aware of his surroundings once more, Ron was digging through his things, looking for something. It still looked like it was early morning outside. Glancing around the room, Harry realized that Dean and Seamus had already left.

"What're you looking for?" Harry asked slowly. It was a springtime Saturday... from the looks of it, a sunny one.

"You remember how I slipped away to use to loo last night after dinner?" Harry just blinked at Ron, waiting for him to continue. "Well... I came up here to get something for Gin afterward and there was a note on my bed." Harry was confused. Ron seemed so nervous... what had the note said?

"And?"

"And... it was... fromasecretadmirer." Ron flushed instantly, sticking his nose back in his trunk, continuing his search. Harry broke into a smile for his friend, but it still didn't explain why he was rifling through his things.

"So then what are you looking for?" Ron stopped and looked up at Harry, still flush, opening and closing his mouth several times.

"It... the note asked me... to come meet them by the lake this morning..." Ron looked away, obviously embarrassed again. "And it said... whoever wrote the note... well, they like my hair when it's swept back, like after a Quidditch game... so... I thought I'd... y'know... put it... like that."

Harry nodded, not knowing what else to say, and got out of bed pulling on his clothes for the day. By the time he'd finished brushing his teeth and came out of the bathroom, Ron was gone, apparently off to meet his match. Harry smiled again. Ron deserved some happiness.

Curiosity suddenly piquing, Harry walked over to the window and looked down at the lake to see if he could make out Ron and his secret admirer. He could see a person that was definitely Ron at the shore, yelling at someone with brown hair... she almost looked like Hermione.

Harry's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Had Hermione left the note for Ron? The idea made him a bit uneasy, and he wasn't completely certain why. Sure there were signs... but he felt kind of... sidelined; kind of jilted. He didn't want to be a third wheel.

Looking down at the shore, Harry saw another person standing next to the pair with long blond hair, and he saw another red-head approaching them. That must be Ginny.

Staring intently, Harry tried to understand the conversation from the window by observing their body language, but all Harry could make out from that was Hermione shouting "You insensitive clod!" and Ron firing back "Why are you so difficult!?"

But after a few moments Harry gasped as Hermione slapped Ron across the face, storming off. Harry ran towards the dormitory door immediately running down to the common room. He was almost out the portrait-hole when he realized he'd left his wand back in his trunk. Running back up to his bed and grabbing his wand, he got down to the common room again to find Hermione sitting at one of the tables looking thoroughly upset.

 **::XX::XX::**

Unsure, Harry glanced at the portrait-hole for a second before walking over to the table. They were the only two in the common room... and why not on such a beautiful Saturday morning? Everyone else was either at breakfast or out enjoying the sun.

As Harry got closer though he realized that Hermione wasn't just upset... her cheeks were a bit wet, and she didn't seem to be turning the pages of her book at all.

"Umm... hello Hermione," Harry offered lamely. "You alright?" She looked up at him with red eyes, but she didn't really look sad, and she didn't seem to be crying anymore. At least that was a good thing... Harry didn't particularly like dealing with crying girls.

"Ron can be so dense sometimes," she stated simply. Harry shifted. He wasn't an expert on romance or the female species, but that statement seemed to say to him that Hermione had indeed been the one who left the note on Ron's bed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Ron likes you too, he's just a bit slow, that's all." Harry smiled reassuringly. However quite unlike what Harry had been hoping, Hermione seemed to withdraw and become even moodier at the words of comfort. She closed her eyes and sighed, standing. When she opened her eyes again, Harry could tell that she was hurt. Perhaps he hadn't seen it before because she hadn't looked at him squarely, but she was definitely hurt.

"Sometimes you can be as dense as Ron," she nearly whispered before whisking past him to the girl's dorms, leaving Harry to try and understand what had just happened. He looked at the stairs, trying to put together what was going on. Girls were so _frustrating_ sometimes. Figuring that Ron might need someone to talk to as well, Harry stepped out of the portrait-hole and proceeded down the stairs to the entrance hall.

He could hear the chatter from the Great Hall... most people were still having breakfast. Walking out the front doors, Harry started down towards the lake's edge, only to see Ginny and Ron, er... "exchanging some words". He started to pick up the conversation as he drew closer.

"...as a brick! Honestly, why would you do something as stupid as that?" Ginny gave her brother a piercing gaze.

"How was I supposed to know she wasn't waiting for me? It was all just a big misunderstanding!" Harry continued approaching the pair curiously. Hermione hadn't been waiting for Ron? "I don't know why she got so upset; she just blew up at me!"

"And how do you think Luna feels!?" Harry looked past Ginny and for the first time identified the blond-haired witch that had been out on the grass. Had she left the note?

Ron looked uneasy at the question and glanced over at Luna. The normally spacey girl seemed to be paying rapt attention. Harry pondered jumping in to break the pair up when Luna seemed to preempt him.

"Ginny, thanks for being so supportive, but Ronald won't listen to what you're saying." Ginny looked at the girl, some of the anger draining from her flushed face. The blond girl stared at the two with her wide eyes that seemed to be eternally shocked, but at the moment felt much more knowing. "Really, I just wanted to have a talk with him by myself, but it looks like everyone has been having words with Ronald but me. Harry's even come out to say something."

Ginny and Ron both turned and noticed Harry for the first time, who suddenly felt very on-the-spot.

"Er, just wanted... to find out what was going on..." Ginny looked back at Ron, shooting him a final glare, before stomping up to Harry and grabbing his arm.

"C'mon," she said, starting to drag him away. "Let's leave them to chat." Harry followed her lead, and with a last glance over his shoulder, they passed through the Entrance Hall, heading in to have some breakfast.

"So what was that all about?" Harry asked the fiery girl. Ginny glanced at him before grabbing some toast.

"Luna left Ron a note asking him to meet her by the lake last night." She stopped and Harry waited for her to continue.

"Um... how did you know what was up?" he asked, trying to pry more information from her.

"Luna had me put the note on his bed," she said matter-of-factly. Harry nearly smacked himself in the forehead. Of course! How else would a Ravenclaw get a note onto the bed of a Gryffindor?

"But that doesn't explain Hermione or anything."

"Well..." Ginny trailed off and focused on her toast for a moment. "Ron saw Hermione at the lake and assumed she'd left the note." She glanced at Harry before looking back at her food. "You know how he's always fancied her."

It was something that was unspoken. Harry knew it, somewhere in the back of his mind; how could he not? But it wasn't something he'd ever talked about with Ron before, so in a sense it was something he didn't "know", merely something that he suspected. Ginny referencing it out loud seemed to make it uncomfortably clear for him, and Harry once again felt as if he were being forsaken... an appendage to his friends.

"But, of course, Ron approached it the way he approaches everything: head first." Ginny took a bite of her thoroughly buttered toast. "Too bad he's such an arse."

"What happened then?" Harry prompted.

"Well," she started, swallowing her food. "Ron waltzed up to Hermione and started talking about how glad he was that she finally came around, and that she didn't need to write anonymous notes to tell him she fancied him." Ginny sighed. "By the time Hermione figured out what he was on about, Ron had gone and dug himself a rather embarrassing and deep hole of assumptions. Hermione was not very pleased, and explained to Ron that she didn't send him any letter, and that someone else must have left the note. Unfortunately, Ron's skull is thicker than Dean's... well, you know."

After a split second, Harry's brain caught up with his ears, and he blanched at Ginny. "Gin, I'm trying to have breakfast. No comparisons to anyone's bits." She rolled her eyes, and kept going.

"Ron thought that she was pulling a joke on him naturally, and laughed at her rebuffs, which upset Hermione further. So she explained a bit more forcefully." Ginny paused, giving Harry a strange look. "You know how they can argue... well, one thing led to another, and before too long Ron was wheeling insults about Hermione being a bit, er, 'loose'. Mentioned stuff about Krum and such.

"Well that sent her a bit over the edge, and she yelled that perhaps Ron had left himself the note, since he seemed to admire himself so thoroughly." Ginny gave Harry that strange look again. "This is where it got a bit... out of hand. Ron threw back that she was one to talk about someone admiring themselves, when she spent so much time pleased with herself that anyone would be mental to be around her. She seemed genuinely hurt at that, and mentioned that _you_ didn't seem to have a problem being around her. But of course, Ron was too heated to think before he spoke, and started in on you." She paused to take a bite, and Harry just watched her, the whole recounting of the event coming across as rather surreal.

"Well, what did he say then?" Harry asked.

"Oh, well..." Ginny gave him a chagrined look. "Are you sure you'd like to know? He was just angry you know, I don't think he meant any of it."

"I know that, Gin," Harry replied, annoyed. "I'm not asking because I want words with him, I'm asking because I want to know why my friends are both looking at me like I'm diseased."

"Hmmm," Ginny looked at him for a few moments, taking another bite, before nodding. "Well, Ron said that of course it made sense you didn't mind being around her, since you were just as self-absorbed as she was. Told her that was why she admired you so much, and let you get away with things she never lets him get away with."

Harry was dumbfounded at that. Hermione admire him? Let him get away with things? Harry didn't entertain the notion that Hermione might admire him very long at all. _She_ was the one at the top of class, who always seemed to be right, even when he didn't listen to her. If anything, Harry admired her. Sadly, the bit about Harry being selfish didn't surprise him _too_ much. The last few years that notion had been an intermittent expression of Ron's jealousy for Harry's unwanted fame. But Harry struggled to figure how Ron could level even the thought of selfishness at Hermione. Hadn't she basically gotten them both through Hogwarts through her sheer will just because they were her friends? That was how Harry remembered it anyway.

Of course, this argument between Ron and Hermione had been brewing all year, what with the Slug Club, the incidents with McClaggen, and so on. Although, now that he thought about it, Ron really should have actually gone through the break-up with Lavender before meeting one girl who was a secret admirer and having a row with another over _not_ admiring him.

"Anyway," Ginny continued, "at that point Hermione got this strange look in her eye, like she was looking at him for the first time or something. She walked right up to him, slapped him across the face, and told him that she, _ahem_ , 'didn't ever want to be his anything', and stormed off.

"Needless to say, the whole ordeal was probably a bit traumatic for Luna, who just wanted to talk to Ron privately," Ginny finished. Harry nodded, looking down at his untouched breakfast.

"Thanks Ginny. I think I'll go see how Hermione's doing." Harry jumped up without waiting for a response and trekked off towards the Gryffindor common room. The walk gave him time to go over the exchange in his head. He shuddered at Ginny's crass sense of humor. Why oh why had she mentioned _anything_ about Dean's _bits_!?

 **::XX::XX::**

Climbing through the portrait after producing the password, Harry glanced around the room to find only Neville there. He was sitting at a table in the far corner, hunched over a piece of parchment. That seemed bit... odd... come to think of it, what had Neville been doing so early this morning?

Just as he was about to open his mouth and greet the boy, Hermione descended from the girls dorm, giving him a faint and tired looking smile as she came into the room. Neville glanced up at her, then followed her gaze and noticed Harry for the first time. Feeling a bit awkward, Harry motioned towards the plush chairs near the empty fireplace, which would afford Neville a bit of privacy.

"'Lo Hermione. Feeling better?" he asked. She smiled a bit more openly to him before nodding.

"Yes. I just needed a bit to collect myself." A heavy silence fell between them.

"Erm... Ginny explained what happened to me—" Hermione interrupted him shaking her head.

"I don't want to talk about that right now; it's too frustrating. Ron's just going to have to apologize for it when he's good and ready." She smiled again, but it looked a bit... empty to Harry. "Ron will probably be busy for the rest of the day now that he's had the opportunity to talk with Luna. I'm fine, but I would feel much better if I could spend the day relaxing with a friend." She looked at him expectantly. "Would you be willing to put up with me for the rest of the day?"

Harry let out a boyish laugh, flashing her a grin. Had that been a serious question?

"Sounds like a splendid way to spend the day!" He stopped for a moment, an almost confused look spreading over his face. "Do you want to go to the library or something?" She shot him an icy glare, but it carried a good-natured reprimand in it.

"Honestly Harry, is that all you think I enjoy doing?" Harry fidgeted uncomfortably. He hadn't spent any days with just Hermione since Fourth year when Ron had stopped talking to him, and during that time Hermione had been focused on helping him prepare for the Triwizard Tournament. To be perfectly honest, Harry wasn't entirely sure what Hermione enjoyed doing other than reading books.

"Ummm... I... well that is... I'm not sure..." Hermione stared intently as Harry trailed off. He was hoping she'd jump in right about now to save him, but it seemed she was interested in hearing him finish the thought. "Perhaps a game of chess?" Hermione scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, since it appears that you don't know how to socialize with anyone except Ron, I think a good plan would be to retrieve the Marauder's map and spy on him and Luna." Harry did a double take.

"What?" It wasn't like Hermione to joke about that sort of thing. "Are you serious?"

"Come on, Harry. It's a Saturday, I don't have anything left to study until Professor McGonagall gives me the new book I've been waiting for, and Ron is about to make a complete fool of himself in front of a girl that for some reason finds his many qualities endearing." Harry just continued to stare. "Well, are you going to get it then?" She began tapping her fingers against her folded arms in lieu of tapping her foot.

"Uh, right then." Harry sprang up and darted off towards the boys dormitories.

"And don't forget the cloak," Hermione called. Neville looked up briefly watching Harry run off.

Within a few minutes Harry and Hermione were trudging through the grass outside the entrance under the Invisibility Cloak.

"He's up by the reading tree," Harry told her, having glanced at the map once more.

"Quietly..." Hermione whispered as they came up towards the pair who were sitting underneath one of Hermione's favorite spots. 'The Reading Tree' as the trio had come to call it was a lone Birch tree on a hill overlooking a quiet part of the lake which was walled on one side by a sheer cliff. The combination of the cliff face and the hill made the tree a shaded place to sit with a wonderful view. As would be implied, Hermione liked going there with a book to pass spare afternoons.

"You really think so?" Ron asked Luna guardedly. Harry and Hermione stopped walking and listened intently.

"Oh yes," she replied in a sing-song voice. "Do you not remember the hats I wore?" Ron flushed.

"Well... yes... but..." he paused for a moment. "You always wear weird hats. I didn't know you were coming to the Quidditch matches to watch me." Hermione cringed.

"That lout," Hermione whispered. "When a girl says she's been a fan of yours you don't call her weird."

"Ronald..." Luna trailed off with a sigh, almost as if she was expecting him to respond as he had. "Of course you didn't know I was wearing fantastic hats because you were on the team. That's why I'm telling you now." She smiled as if recalling a fond memory.

"Er... yeah, I guess you're right."

"She sure let him off easy," Harry whispered. "I'd have gotten hexed with the way women have responded before."

"Wait, does all of this mean that you want to... uh... bemygirlfriend?" Harry got the feeling that Hermione would have exploded at his thickness had she been able to.

"Yes," Luna said, staring into his eyes. "I suppose that would be nice." Ron rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably and turned to look at the castle in the distance.

"Ummm... well... I guess we could go back to the castle then and... play a game of chess?" Hermione shot a glare at Harry, as if to say, 'You're as bad as him'. Luna nodded, somewhat more solidly than normal.

"That sounds nice." Ron got up and started walking towards the castle without a glance back. Harry thought he was going to have to restrain Hermione. A few steps away however, Ron stopped and turned as Luna caught up.

"Er... sorry. I'm a bit thick when it comes to this. I probably said a few things that upset you already, so I'm sorry, even though I don't know what they'd be." He looked down at his hands, like they were covered in blood and he was wondering who's it was. "I suppose I shouldn't have started off like that."

Nervously he offered a hand to Luna, who took it gracefully and began walking immediately, tugging Ron along behind her.

"Come Ronald. I want to show you how a Ravenclaw plays chess."

Harry was about to start off after them when Hermione grabbed his arm. He looked over and she shook her head no, so they watched the pair walk off until they disappeared into the castle doors. Harry glanced at the map before removing the cloak and looking inquisitively at Hermione.

"I... I can't believe him!" Hermione practically hissed. "He hasn't even broken up with Lavender yet!" The look on her face was one Harry had never seen her wear before, like a mixture of exasperation and pity, but after a few moments it all washed away into a clear expression of defeat. "Is he ever going to change?" she whispered.

Harry wasn't sure if Hermione wanted an answer, but decided to give her one anyway.

"Everyone changes," Harry said. "Look at me. Am I anything like the quiet little boy that got on the train six years ago? And look at you... you've got a confidence and purpose that your younger self wanted but didn't have." Hermione remained silent, so Harry pressed on. "Ron has changed too. When we came to Hogwarts he was... well he was an 11 year-old boy, just like me. He didn't even really have the concept of goals, or purpose. Now he's not a boy trying to be his older brothers, he's really trying to find a way to be himself. You can't honestly tell me that you think Ron hasn't changed..."

"No," Hermione said slowly, "you're right. It's just..." She turned and faced Harry fully, eying him as if deciding whether or not he was the right person to talk to about this. "Harry, I've always felt... older than my peers. Out of place. I don't know why, but a part of me expected that to fade as everyone else, er, caught up." She looked down. "That sounded horribly vain."

"I know what you meant," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "And you're right about it, so it's not exactly vain. Are you upset because you feel like Ron hasn't matured as much as you thought he would?"

"I guess," she replied with a sigh. "I'm..." she glanced over at him again. "Harry, you won't think horribly of me if I just vent for a moment, will you? Let it out? Don't watch what I say?"

"Err," Harry mumbled, his brows furrowing. "Of course not Hermione."

Tears began to well up in her eyes, and like someone flipped a switch, she seemed to crumble in front of him.

"I feel so alone, Harry. Not the same way you do, but just as surely." Her words we coming fast now. "All my life I've felt like an outsider to everyone my age. I don't know... I can't... I don't understand what it's like for most everyone our age. How they can all make such obvious mistakes before learning it's not a smart thing to do, instead of just learning that from other people's experience." She paused and pulled a ragged breath, crying.

"Sometimes I feel like everyone around me has flobberworms for brains. Not because of their marks, or how smart they are... there's plenty of people in our year that are just as intelligent as I am. But because they seem to lack any kind of _common sense._ And as soon as I think that I feel horrible, because I really _don't_ think I'm any better of a person than they are, but I can't stop feeling irritated by it every so often.

"And then I find myself falling for a boy who really does have a heart of gold, but constantly decides to hide it under all the rubbish parts of himself! It's infuriating! I feel angry at myself for liking him, and then angry at myself for getting angry at myself over something so selfish and petty!"

Harry just nodded, trying to follow along.

"I don't think that's an issue any more though," Hermione said ruefully. "Not after what he said this morning, and not after what he's doing to Lavender right now." She looked around, her eyes resting on Harry's. "You know, in some ways he knows me much better than you," she said more softly. "He... what he attacked this morning was the part of myself I'm most ashamed of, and he knows that. My vanity and narcissism. My fear that I'll let being clever go to my head. But what use is being clever if it doesn't make you happy?"

It wasn't until this point that Harry really understood what Hermione meant by needing to vent. She wasn't even providing the full measure of every thought she was expressing, just the parts that were bothering her, and he found himself at an utter loss as to what to do or how to respond. He looked at her tear streaked face and smiled sadly, realizing that he was still rubbish at crying girls.

He gave it a moments thought, and decided the best course of action was to let her self-reflection be her own, and instead focus on Ron.

"You know... I agree that what he's doing to Lavender isn't right, and she's a nice person, she doesn't deserve that. But in the end this is all probably a good thing." He looked up at the tower, picking out his dorm window for a moment before turning back. "Obviously not the way it happened, but him and Lavender couldn't work, not really. Luna though I think could help him. Maybe complement some of the things that he has trouble dealing with on his own." He reached up and gently gripped her shoulders. "I'll make him talk to Lavender tonight though. He's like the brother I never had, and I reckon that's the sort of thing brothers do for each other."

Hermione smiled at him, a much more relaxed smile than he'd seen in a long time.

"Thank you Harry, for everything. For listening, and being a good friend. To both of us." She leaned forward and pulled him into a brief hug before pulling back and laughing the sort of laugh that lets all your stress and tension melt through your skin.

"Are you really okay, Hermione?" Harry asked quietly. "I know you... well at least _used_ to fancy him. I can't imagine that goes away in one conversation."

"No, it doesn't," Hermione agreed, a sad smile on her face. "But this wasn't really the beginning of that process, it was the end, I think. He's been driving me mad this whole year, and honestly has been putting more and more strain on what I'll tolerate. This was the last straw, not the first."

"I understand," Harry replied. And for once, he really thought he might. "Do you want to go do something else?"

"No," Hermione replied evenly. "I'm going to grab a good book and have a nice, relaxing spring weekend." She smiled, her expression looking all the more genuine for her puffy eyes and tear-streaked face. She'd be okay.

"Well have a nice afternoon," Harry told her with a grin. She walked off and Harry sat down for several minutes, looking out over the lake. With everything going on, with the Hocruxes, with Dumbledore, with Malfoy... it was nice to have some _normal_ problems to deal with. After a half-hour of enjoying the unseasonably good weather, Harry picked up the cloak and headed back toward the castle.

 **::XX::XX::**

"This whole day has been crazy," Harry thought out loud. "And it's barely noon." His stomach growled loudly. "Well, can't think on an empty stomach, especially after missing breakfast."

Harry made his way toward the Great Hall where lunch was being served, still lost in his thoughts a bit. Somehow, his conversation with Hermione had left him feeling unreasonably calm. Harry scanned the tables and noticed Malfoy sneering in his direction, which caught his attention immediately. Malfoy had been almost entirely ignoring him all year, which was odd, so the sudden return to his regular behavior was highly suspicious, and Harry was immediately on guard. But after a few seconds, he realized there wasn't really anything he could say or do right that moment, so instead he look toward the Gryffindor tables for familiar faces. It was very early in the lunch period, and the only person he knew well at the table was Neville. He seemed to be examining a parchment rather fervently, and it looked as if the lunch he'd dished himself was untouched.

"Hello Neville," Harry said, sitting down next to Neville. He startled and quickly put the parchment into his pocket. "What's that?"

"Er, nothing," Neville said, immediately putting some food into his mouth as his cheeks blushed slightly. "Jush an ashignmen." Harry gave him a skeptical look before shrugging his shoulders and grabbing some food for himself. This day had been all over the place.

Harry finished his lunch without further conversation, Neville having left soon after he arrived to go work on the assignment he supposed. It wasn't until he got up to leave the Great Hall that he noticed tMalfoy's odd looks from across the room had changed again. It wasn't the usual disdain and superiority, or the new and unfamiliar dismissal and disinterest, but something else... resolve?

Harry brushed it aside, deciding that he was just going to have a normal Saturday today, giving Draco a stiff glare as he left. He lazily made his way back to the common room and decided to work on his own homework while he had some free time. He set up his things in the corner him and Ron liked to use for studying and dove into his assignment, a particularly nasty one for Charms on the mechanics of mind-altering spells, especially memory charms.

He scrawled on his parchment, trying to finish, but after several hours realized that he was still a few inches short and had no idea what else to say. How did Hermione always find more to add? Sighing, he stowed his things figuring he wouldn't be able to get any more work done today, and glanced at the window. It was starting to get dark.

There were plenty of students in the common room now, it being nearly dinner time, and he found with particular peculiarity that Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all missing from the common room. He shrugged it off and decided to go to dinner, figuring he'd find them there.

Walking through the halls, Harry got an odd feeling, as if he were being watched, and several times stopped to glance around, gripping his wand tightly, only to find himself alone. This day was turning out to be rather strange.

He entered the Great Hall and immediately spotted Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, pointedly ignoring each other. It used to constantly frustrate him how they did this all the time, but after Hermione's speech, he felt he understood a bit better just what their dynamic looked like.

"Hey guys," he said, sitting next to Ron. "What's your day been like?"

Both of them gave him an odd look, and Ron sighed before giving him a reply.

"Different," he said shortly. "Talking with Luna was... interesting." Harry noticed his friend's ears getting red, a sure sign of embarrassment.

"Yes, well at least she's understanding," Hermione scolded. Ron scowled at her before shoving a bite of food into his mouth. Harry simply remained silent, hoping the awkward moment would pass, and began to dish up his plate.

"Well..." Ron started, clearly deciding his next words. "I think I've been a little bit harsh in how I viewed her before. Like I said, talking with her was interesting." Again Harry noticed Ron's ears reddening. Could him and Luna... well, Harry didn't really think of Luna as being 'his type', but then, he never really got to know her well enough to determine that. Perhaps there was a side of her that he didn't know. Regardless, he wanted his best friend to be happy.

"I think it's great, you and Luna," Harry said carefully, causing Ron to redden a little more. "She was really helpful last year with the DA, and... she was very helpful after what happened with Sirius." Both his friends turned their gazes directly at him, asking without saying anything for him to elaborate. He felt a little embarrassed talking about it.

"Right before the term ended she had a short conversation with me, while I was feeling depressed. It made me feel a little better, like she knew what I was going through, what with her mother and all." Harry paused. "But Ron... you have to break things off with Lavender. If you don't do it after dinner I'm going to do it for you."

"What?" Ron asked heatedly.

"C'mon Ron," Harry sighed. "This isn't you. You're my best mate. I'm not going to let you be 'that guy' if I can help it."

Ron seemed to deflate a little, before getting a thoughtful look on his face.

"I suppose you're right," Ron said with a heavy sigh. "I can't imagine Bill doing that."

The three of them nodded in unison and continued eating their meal in silence. It wasn't until they were nearly finished that Harry noticed something odd.

"Hey guys? Has Malfoy or any of his friends been in here?" Hermione and Ron both looked around the room for them before shaking their heads.

"No," Hermione said, giving him a suspicious look. "Why do you ask?" Harry shrugged.

"He was acting strange earlier at lunch. He was eying me with a weird look, like he knew something I didn't." Harry paused. "That usually means he's going to try something." Ron snorted.

"That little snake doesn't worry me at all."

Harry wasn't so confident, but voiced his agreement, seeing as how his friends thought he was paranoid on this topic. The trio were among the last to leave the Great Hall, and were halfway to the common room before Harry put his hand in his pockets and noticed something missing.

"Uh," he said, stopping. "I don't have my wand."

"What!?" Hermione screeched. "How could you forget that? I don't even recall you taking it out of your pocket." Harry shook his head.

"Neither do I." He checked the rest of his pockets. "It's probably back in the Great Hall."

"I'll go with you to get it," Hermione told him, starting back the way they'd come.

"Well I'm exhausted," Ron chimed in., "and I've still got that _conversation_ with Lavender to deal with. I'm going back to the tower, talking to her, and then I'm going straight to bed. Good luck with the wand." Harry waved, and walked over to Hermione as they made their way back towards the Great Hall.

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry and Hermione were about halfway back to the Great Hall when she spoke into the silence.

"Harry, have you ever thought about me that way before?"

The question was so jarring that Harry stumbled and barely caught himself from falling down one of the many flights of stairs.

"Like... _that_!?" he repeated dumbly. _Oh Merlin, what's the right answer here?_ But as Harry glanced at her face, he seemed to recognize that she wasn't asking with any expectation. Or at least, without any sort of 'right answer' in mind. She looked as if she were just genuinely curious. "Uh... well, no. To be honest, there's... someone that I've had my eye on this year."

"Yes," Hermione nodded, seemingly in agreement. "Ginny. But I wasn't really asking about now, I was asking about _ever_. After our talk earlier... I don't know. It felt like for the first time I could just really be myself with a friend and not worry about making you avoid me or ignore me. And these are the sort of _frustratingly_ rational thoughts that pop into my head that I never speak out loud."

"Oh." Harry was quiet for a few seconds. "Hermione... I'm not sure that part of me functions as a normal person. I mean, my life..." Harry trailed off. "Well, I haven't really had a lot of people to talk to about that sort of thing growing up, have I? The only one before Ginny was... Cho. But that was so flimsy and fleeting, I'm not sure it counts. I've..." He got quiet as his face began to redden. "I've never really felt like I do with Ginny before. I don't know what else to compare it to."

She looked at him evenly and Harry began to panic, sure he'd said something wrong.

"I don't know Hermione, maybe there's something broken about me. I mean you're beautiful, and intelligent, and you've always stood by me, but it's honestly just... never crossed my mind." He glanced at her, kicking himself for digging himself a hole once again with a girl. "I mean, it's not that I shouldn't have... shouldn't be! I mean, I don't know why I feel the way I do. Half the time I'm not even sure what I feel." Harry paused and let out a long sigh, passing his hand through his messy hair. He looked over when he heard a sort of rattling from Hermione, and after a few seconds he realized she was holding back laughter. "Alright then," he said, a bit peeved that she would find his discomfort so entertaining. "What's so funny?"

"Oh Harry," she said fondly. "You're so noble that it's both funny and endearing. In fact—" they both stopped instantly when they heard a sound from behind them.

They quickly turned around and saw nothing. Hermione got her wand out, and they gave each other a quick glance. Someone with an invisibility cloak?

"We know you're there." Harry said, suddenly feeling very naked without his wand.

"Is that right?" a voice from around them said. Harry's eyes widened. No! Not him! Not here!

Harry's scar suddenly erupted in searing pain, and he fell to his knees, clutching his forehead. He had to do something!

"It's... Him..." Harry spat out, and Hermione immediately turned to look all around them. Harry watched as Hermione spotted the Dark Lord, apparently behind them again, and blasted a spell at him. He watched in agony as a green bolt hit her in the chest, a look of surprise locked on her face. Time seemed to slow as she fell, her wand falling from her grip, and she hit the floor hard, completely limp.

No... She can't...

"What a pitiful Mudblood," Voldemort hissed, finally coming into Harry's view. "All too easy to dispose of."

"No!" Harry yelled out.

"Oh yes," he replied with a smirk. "She is, in fact, quite dead. See?" Harry watched in horror as he knelt down next to Hermione's lifeless form and poked her with his wand.

"Get away from her!" Harry raged. Voldemort laughed in an odd, wheezing manner.

"Would you like to see for yourself?" He reached out with his long, bony fingers and grabbed her face, turning it so that Harry could see the lifeless expression it was wearing.

"Don't you touch her! Get your hands off of her!"

Voldemort laughed again, reveling in his victory.

"It's really a shame. She was quite brilliant for a Mudblood. I can see why she was attractive." The comment was absolutely infuriating to Harry. Hearing him comment on Hermione's attractiveness... it was simply unacceptable.

He felt a surge of strength, the pain seemed subdued, and he quickly got to his feet. She couldn't be dead. He'd get out of this somehow and get her to Madam Pomphrey.

"Now, now. Don't worry yourself too much, for you're just about to join her." Harry didn't care what he had to say, and lunged at the Dark Lord, who effortlessly stepped out of the way. Harry fell down, and quickly rolled onto his back, looking up at the terrifying figure over him.

"You..." Harry managed to spit out. Voldemort laughed maliciously, looking at him like a lion looks at a gazelle.

"Yes," he said, raising his wand above his head. "Me." The wand began swishing through the air. "Avada Kadavra!"

Harry saw a flash of green light and everything turned black.

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry opened his eyes with a jolt. He was in his bed. He looked around frantically. How had he survived? How long had it been? Was Hermione alright?

He glanced around and saw Neville leave the room. Looking at the other beds, he saw all his classmates sleeping normally. Harry jumped out of bed and got dressed as quickly as he good, noticing that he felt completely fine. His wand was even sitting on his nightstand, where he always leaves it.

He pocketed it, and dashed out of the room, spotting Neville near the portrait in the common room.

"Neville!" Harry called out, startling the boy. Harry rushed over to him, which seemed to frighten his classmate. "Neville what happened?"

"Wh—What do you mean?" Neville replied nervously.

"What happened to Voldemort?!" Neville nearly dropped his wand at the question.

"I—uh—I don't know what you're talking about Harry..." The Boy Who Lived was beginning to get visibly frustrated.

"Surely you know about what happened! Someone had to have brought me up to my bed, though why I'm not in with Madam Pomphrey I don't know." Neville went from looking frightened to confused.

"Harry... last night you came up to bed with Ron after you two played several games of chess. No one carried you." Harry was startled by this answer. That was what he'd done the night before he'd... died...

"Uh... What's today, Neville?" The boy gave him an odd look.

"Saturday." Harry's mind raced.

"Yesterday, did I spill my cauldron in potions?"

"Yeah," Neville said nodding. "All over Malfoy's station. Slughorn thought it was funny and Malfoy was fuming." Harry's eyes glazed over. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Harry said off-handedly. Maybe it had been a dream.

"Well... I better be going then," Neville said, nodding goodbye to Harry and stepping out through the portrait.

 _What in the world is going on? It might have been a dream, but it was so real._ Harry pondered the possibilities for a moment. It could be a vision. Yes, he decided, that had to be it. He stopped for a moment. All the visions he'd had before were of the present, not the future... he knew from experience that there was such a thing as prophetic messages, but as far as he knew, this wasn't how they came about, and he didn't think he had any special clairvoyant gift. There was only one thing to do: find Dumbledore.

Harry stepped out of the portrait hole and made his way towards the Headmaster's Office, stopping at the statues momentarily.

"Uh... Chocolate Frog? Lemon Drop?"

"Weasley's Weezes," a voice said from behind him. Harry turned to find the Headmaster looking at him curiously. "Trying to find me, Harry?"

"Er, yeah." Harry followed the old wizard up into the circular room. "I had... a vision of sorts. About today."

"What kind of vision?"

"Well, it was about the whole day really. It was like I lived the entire day, or something. The important part of it was that... Voldemort killed me and Hermione... in the castle." Dumbledore's eyes glanced at something on the far wall before looking down at his desk.

"And how confident are you that it was not simply a dream?" Harry looked at him unsure.

"Well... I don't know... it felt very real."

"Has anything from your vision come to pass yet?"

"Uh," Harry paused briefly. "I suppose. In my vision I woke up about this time and saw Neville leaving the dorm room. That was also how I woke up today. But other than that... well... nothing else in the day has had time to happen I suppose."

"Of course." Dumbledore nodded. "Did your vision show at all how Voldemort was able to get into the castle?"

"No," Harry said. "I... He just appeared where me and Hermione were right after dinner."

"Well, let me know if anything else comes up Harry, but I'm afraid there's not much to be done." He sighed. "I would suggest that you don't go about your day as you saw yourself do in your vision, as that didn't end too well. I'll be alerting Professor McGonagall to keep an eye on the situation, and we'll be looking for anything out of place." Dumbledore fixed him with a serious look. "Let me know if you see anything else."

"Of course, Professor."

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry left the Headmaster's office and went straight to Gryffindor tower. He felt a little jittery, remembering his own death so clearly. _And Hermione_... Harry glanced toward the window. It was starting to get lighter outside, and in an hour or so Ron would be up to go see Luna.

 _Wait... if things are the same, then I might be able to help._

Harry went up the stairs to his dorm, and quietly pushed open the door. Seamus and Dean were both up, getting ready for the day. Harry looked over at Ron's bed and saw him still asleep.

"Hey Harry," Seamus said with a smile. "You're up awful early." Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I had to go see the Headmaster." Seamus and Dean gave each other a quick look before continuing to get dressed. They knew that there were plenty of things Harry might need to talk to Dumbledore about, few of them good, and they also knew that it was probably pointless asking what exactly those things were.

"Well, we've got to get going," Dean said, buckling his belt. Harry's eyes, unbidden, glanced down at Dean's trousers, before he quickly searched for something else in the room to stare at. _Dammit Ginny._

Harry waved goodbye to the pair and went over to his own bed, pulling out a piece of parchment. Perhaps it would be good if he wrote down some of the things that happened in his vision, so that he could make sure to change them. He readied his quill.

- _Fight between Hermione and Ron._

Harry paused. Hmm... he could change that by telling Ron who the secret admirer was. But how to explain it?

- _Say something to upset Hermione in common room._

Harry grinned. He could change that by helping Ron avoid his argument in the first place.

- _Listen to Ginny explain the fight._

Another item that could be avoided by fixing the first item.

- _Eavesdrop with Hermione on Ron and Luna._

Harry supposed that he didn't really need to change this item at all, although he wasn't sure how it'd work out if things didn't happen the same way.

- _Listen to Hermione explain herself_

Harry paused. He had rather liked how that conversation had changed their friendship. It had felt more... genuine. More person-to-person. But he couldn't think of a way to have that conversation without also allowing the fight between Ron and Hermione.

- _Go eat lunch and talk to Neville._

Harry stopped again, thinking about the memory. The way Neville had acted had been very odd, like he was trying to hide something embarrassing.

- _Work on Charms homework._

Harry supposed he'd still have to do that. Although, it was rather helpful that his vision had given him a full outline for how to do the assignment.

- _Go to dinner and meet Ron & Hermione._

Another item that would probably happen the same no matter what.

- _Lose wand?_

- _Go back to retrieve it with Hermione._

This was the thing he had to be aware of he decided. Not only would he be able to defend himself if he'd had his wand, but him and Hermione would never have separated from the bulk of students. He'd have to pay close attention at dinner to make sure he didn't leave his wand lying around.

- _Pain in my scar._

- _Hermione dies._

- _I die._

Yes... he'd definitely be looking to avoid that. Harry set the parchment aside and massaged his temples. This was a rather weird situation, and he wasn't sure he could really wrap his mind around the ideas of causality. Were these things supposed to happen?

Harry reached into his pocket and checked his wand. Still there.

 **::XX::XX::**

Ron began to stir, and Harry looked over and his friend slowly rose from his bed.

"Mornin'..." Ron said groggily, rubbing his eyes. Suddenly, he stiffened, and seemed to come fully to his senses. "Oh," he said softly, clearly recalling something. "Today's Saturday."

Ron jumped out of bed and began to dress, and started looking through his things.

"Are you by chance meeting someone this morning Ron?" Harry asked as innocently as he could.

"Er... yeah..." Ron's ears suddenly began to get red and his face got cross. "Did you read it!?" Harry looked at him confused.

"What? No!" Harry looked over the parchment he'd been using. "I... had a vision last night. About today." Ron's features softened as he waited for Harry to continue. "It was about the whole day, really. From beginning to... end..." Ron crossed his arms. "Well, anyway in my vision I asked you what you were looking for and you told me it was a note from a secret admirer that you were meeting."

"That's—" Ron cut himself short, his face turning red.

"I think it's brilliant, Ron!" Harry encouraged. "But... well it does cause a problem." Ron's shoulders stooped.

"What, is it someone mental or hideous?" Harry paused. Well... Luna couldn't be described as mental.

"No, that isn't what happens. You go down to the lake to meet her and you see Hermione." Ron instantly brightened, his face flushing with a huge smile. "But..." Ron's mirth stopped, and he stared at Harry.

"But?"

"Well..." Harry didn't really want to be the one to tell his friend, because he knew that Ron fancied her, but it was really the best thing for him, wasn't it? And that's what friends did. "Hermione isn't the one who left the note." Ron scowled.

"You're just saying that because you're jealous." Harry stared at him slack-jawed, well and truly shocked.

"What!? No! I'm not jealous at all! I don't feel that way about Hermione. The reason I say that is because you have a terrible fight with her, and she slaps you across the face, and stops talking to you. Something you say to her really infuriates her." Harry decided against going into all the details Ginny told him in his vision.

Ron, for his part, seemed to be in deep thought, as if deducing whether what Harry said had any merit. Finally, he sighed, his shoulders drooping again.

"I don't suppose you know who it is then?" Harry opened his mouth, and stopped himself. Should he tell Ron?

"No, I only saw the fight."

"So it's not Hermione then?" Ron said dejectedly. Harry shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry mate... I know how you fancy her." Ron's face got red again, and he seemed to try and sputter a reply before finally looking back at his things. "But, I think I'd much rather have a girlfriend who isn't Hermione than no girlfriend at all, wouldn't you?" Ron smiled at the thought turning back to Harry.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I got to fix my hair—"

"—because she likes the windswept look. You told me in my vision." Ron gave him an odd look before turning back to his things and searching once more.

"I'd certainly like to have a word with this other me and tell him to keep his traitorous mouth shut," Ron grumbled.

"Oh, one other thing Ron," Harry said, remembering part of his conversation with Hermione in his vision. Ron turned. "You need to break it off with Lavender. Today. If you don't do it, I'm going to do it for you." Harry stared directly at Ron, trying to convey the seriousness of his intent.

For his part Ron didn't fume, or get upset, or even look annoyed. He simply looked at Harry's face, paused, and nodded.

"Blood hell, Harry," Ron said after a few moments. "You were like the spitting image of Bill for a second there."

Harry watched as Ron left minutes later. What should he do? He didn't have anything else he wanted to change until around dinner time. Harry picked up the parchment and looked it over again.

"Maybe I should see how it's going." Harry put the parchment away and walked over to the window. He could probably see what was going on right now like he had before. He smiled, pleased with himself as he saw Hermione staring on with apparent happiness as Ron and Luna talked to each other. Ginny seemed to be chatting with Hermione, and they both waved before heading towards the castle.

Harry mentally congratulated himself. He'd successfully changed the day for the better, at least this small part of it. It gave him hope that he could avoid his fate later that evening. The thought made him reach into his pocket and check for his wand again. Good, still there.

 **::XX::XX::**

Gathering his school things, Harry trudged down to the common room to get his Charms homework done, only to find Hermione sitting at the table already. She must have come straight up to work on homework as well. She caught sight of him and brightened at seeing him carrying his books.

"That's very responsible of you Harry," Hermione congratulated. Harry nodded, setting everything up before sitting down.

"Yes, well, this assignment should be easy since I've already done it once." Hermione gave him a questioning look, and Harry looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "I had a vision last night about today. About the whole day, really. It was like I lived today yesterday. Anyway, one of the things that I did in that vision was my Charms homework, so I figure it will be easier to do having already done it once."

Hermione set down her quill and glanced at his parchment before looking back up at him with a worried expression.

"Harry, what happened in your vision? You don't usually get visions without a purpose." Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, well..." He trailed off, trying to figure out how to tell her. "I already talked to Dumbledore about it, so it's going to be alright. Told him everything. But... in my vision... after dinner..." Harry paused again and glanced around once more, lowering his voice to a near whisper. "You and me were killed."

Hermione's face darkened, and she asked him a wordless question with her expression, to which Harry simply nodded. It was Hermione who glanced around this time before speaking.

"How did he do it? In your vision."

"I don't know. One minute we were walking back to the Great Hall by ourselves to get my wand which I'd left there, and the next I was on the floor, you were dead and he was standing over me." Harry felt uncomfortable revealing such a fate to one of his best friends. "But it's not going to happen, obviously. I told Dumbledore all about it, and I'm making sure my wand is always with me, so that we don't get separated today."

"Why..." Hermione paused, giving him an odd look. "Why were you and me alone? Why wasn't Ron with us?" Harry shrugged.

"Ron said he was tired and went on without us," Harry offered, declining to mention the other task of talking to Lavender he'd been assigned that night. "I don't know if he was alright." This answer seemed to trouble Hermione further, and so Harry tried to change the subject. "I know it can be changed though, because I've already changed something today."

"What's that?" Hermione asked, instantly intrigued. Harry grinned. She always had a very 'Hermione' look whenever she was curious about something.

"Ron and Luna. In my vision, Ron went down and thought you left him the note, and you two had a terrible row over it. And then when you came back up I said something that upset you as well, and... well you two had your biggest fight ever." Hermione gave him an odd look, like she wasn't sure what to think about it. "But instead, before Ron left this time, I told him you didn't leave him the note, and you two didn't fight, and not he's having a better day and so are you." Harry smiled proudly.

"I wonder if that was the best thing to do," Hermione wondered out loud. Harry gave her a slightly incredulous look.

"Of course it was the right thing to do," Harry told her. "All of us are having a much better day because of it." Hermione nodded, but didn't seem to be agreeing.

"Yes, but how will that change the other parts of your vision? The future is a tricky thing, Harry. What if the fight not happening leads to Voldemort attacking us in a different way? Then all of the things you told Dumbledore and all the things you're preparing for now are not only useless, but a dangerous distraction."

Harry stopped. He hadn't thought of that. Maybe that fight had created an opportunity that Voldemort took advantage of, but now that advantage wasn't there. Did that mean he'd try something different? Or nothing at all? Maybe it would still happen exactly the same...

"Well, we'll just have to be careful." An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and they both returned to their homework, until after only a few minutes, curiosity got the better of Hermione.

"What else happened?" Hermione asked him softly, causing him to look up from where he was writing. "I mean... with me. What else was my day like?" Harry scrunched his face up in thought.

"Well, you and me spent most of the morning together. After you slapped Ron—"

"I slapped Ron?!" Harry paused, then nodded.

"Yes. I asked Ginny about it, in my vision of course, and she told me that Ron had been throwing insults at you. He attacked your, and I quote, 'vanity and narcissism'." Hermione's face softened, and it looked like she was about to apologize. Harry raised his hand. "He was just upset and wanted to make you angry."

Hermione's expression because very odd for a few moments, like she was nervous. She seemed to be measuring her words carefully.

"Well that would explain why him and me were so upset with each other. What did the two of us do?" Harry grinned.

"We used to invisibility cloak to spy on Ron while he was with Luna."

"What?!" Hermione shrieked, looking absolutely scandalized. "That's terrible!"

"It was your idea!" Harry told her, not ready to be scolded for something that wasn't his fault. Hermione snorted.

"Well some vision. I don't see why I would ever suggest that."

"Well, you said you wanted to spend the day with a friend, and I suggested we go to the library, and you got upset with me. Told me that you liked doing other things too. So I suggested a game of chess, and you seemed further put out, and suggested the spying." Hermione listened, understanding beginning to dawn on her.

"Ah. Well." She seemed at a loss for words, and if Harry didn't know better, he'd say she looked embarrassed. "Good thing. That you changed all that." Harry gave her an amused look. She'd been scolding him for changing it a few minutes ago. But it seemed she was working on her homework again, and with a sigh Harry returned to his. It definitely was easier the second time doing it.

 **::XX::XX::**

The rest of the day passed with very little out of the ordinary. Harry finished his homework in the early afternoon, right around when Ron came back into the common room, absolutely beaming. Harry had never seen Ron so delighted.

"Harry!" Ron called, bounding over like he had springs attached to his feet. "Harry, thank you for your, um, advice earlier today." Ron gave him an odd look. "For some reason I suspect you knew exactly who left the note, but I won't hold that against you. Today was wonderful!" Harry was at the same time surprised and amused.

"What happened with Luna?"

"I don't know why I never talked to her before," Ron said, as if that was an answer.

"Probably because you were worried about not looking cool," Hermione chortled.

Ron gave her a short glare before his happiness seemed to bubble over once more, and he turned back to Harry.

"Yes, well... Luna is everything you wished most women were like! She doesn't play games and make you guess at what she's thinking, she just tells you! And she's an excellent chess player!" Ron sighed. "And she's rather fetching too, wouldn't you say? Long, straight hair... great eyes... wonderful—"

"Uh, yeah," Harry agreed, cutting his friend off. He was a bit worried about which parts Ron might begin describing. Ron's expression changed, as if a thought dawned on him, and he fixed Harry with a look of pity.

"I almost feel sorry for you mate. I bet she's about the only girl you'll find who will simply tell you what she's thinking instead of play games. Hope you find someone like that." And with that, Ron left, a bundle of energy. Hermione scoffed as he walked away, leaning in towards Harry.

"It almost sounded like Ron was describing himself," she said in a half-whisper. "A bit narcissistic, wouldn't you say?" she asked with a mischievous smile on her face.

Harry snickered in amusement, agreeing immediately. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel happiness for his friend. Seeing how miserable most of the day had been in his vision, Harry was very grateful to have made today better for him. In fact, if Harry allowed himself to think so, he seemed to have done nothing but make today better for everyone involved. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back.

 **::XX::XX::**

The rest of the afternoon was consumed with games of exploding snap, which Hermione surprisingly suggested playing with Harry. He'd never seen her play, but she was very good at it, making Harry wonder just how much he didn't know about her. She'd said that it was 'to relax her mind from a day of studying', but Harry had never noticed her do such a thing before.

And so, early that evening, Hermione and Harry picked their things up to head down to dinner. Ron had left ten minutes earlier, apparently starving. He claimed to have skipped lunch to spend time with Luna, but Harry had never known Ron to skip any meals. If that was true, it was perhaps the biggest testament to his opinion of the Ravenclaw.

Meeting back in the common room, which was beginning to thin, Harry and Hermione walked out of the portrait hole, down the familiar route to the Great Hall. For some reason, the conversation between them seemed to flow easier, and they talked about many things, some not even school related.

In fact, the conversation was so intriguing that when Harry looked around to see how close they were, he noticed they were not even close to the Great Hall. They were, somehow, in a fifth floor corridor near the Astronomy tower.

Hermione noticed at the same time he did, and immediately drew her wand, giving Harry a meaningful look.

"How did we get here?" Harry asked quickly, shooting his hand into his own pocket to withdraw his wand.

"I'm not sure," she replied. Harry's blood turned cold as his hand felt around.

"My wand." Harry said. "It's gone." Hermione looked around frantically.

"Was this how it happened? In your vision?" Harry shook his head.

"No. It happened after dinner." He glanced at one of the portraits and saw movement. "Hey, you!" he called out the painting. "Would you get the headmaster? Tell him we're in trouble." The painting glanced up at Harry's scar before nodding and disappearing out of the frame.

"Well," Hermione started, glancing around the empty corridor. "What do you say we make a run for it?" Harry nodded, and they both took off, trying to reach the relative safety of the Great Hall.

They turned a corner and glanced behind them, when suddenly both seemed to trip, and fell forward. Hermione lost the grip she had on her wand, and it slid some ten feet from where they landed. Right as Harry began to get back up it hit him. Pain. His scar exploded in an all-too-familiar way.

 _No!_ he thought. _Not like before! Not like in the vision!_

Harry looked over at Hermione, to see her transfixed on something out of his field of view. Her face wore an expression of horror and fear, two emotions he had hardly ever seen on her face.

" _Avada Kadavra_!" A beam of green light struck Hermione in the chest and she slumped over, lifeless.

"No!" Harry screamed through the pain. "Not again!"

"Again?" a familiar, raspy voice asked. "So they were right. You did have a vision." Voldemort walked into Harry's field-of-view, looking down at the boy as if he pitied him. Harry knew that the dark wizard didn't, but it was an act of power. It was a message that Harry was so helpless that Voldemort could afford to pity him.

"I was told by some of my servants that you'd gone rushing to Dumbledore this morning with a detailed account of how I was planning on killing you later this evening." The Dark Lord grinned in a maniacal way that scared Harry. "I must say I somewhat doubted the accuracy of their report, but visions have been known to occur, particularly for those close to death."

Voldemort leaned over, his grin turning into a sneer, his face less than a foot from Harry's. "What is it that you see now?"

Harry tried to form words, last, defiant words, to show that he wasn't afraid. But he couldn't seem to convince his voice to work, and even then, he wasn't sure what he would say.

"A real pity. I had been hoping for a plan a bit more grandiose than what I'll accomplish here. I wanted to savor this moment more, but in the end, I guess all that matters is that there is a moment like this."

Voldemort raised his wand threateningly.

"Good bye, 'the-Boy-Who-Lived'. _Avada Kadavra_!" There was a flash of green light, then everything went black, and Harry opened his eyes with a jolt, and he was breathing heavily.

He was back in his bed. Quickly he glanced over at the dorm room door and saw Neville slinking out.

 _Well_ , Harry thought to himself, slowing his breathing, _this is strange._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **::XX::XX::**

 **Author's Note:** There are actually some pretty significant changes in this chapter from the original one, so even if you've read and remember the original second chapter, I'd suggest reading this.

Do not expect chapter 3 to be posted tomorrow. I guess it's possible, but it's unlikely. This chapter was posted so quickly, in part, because I had nearly finished it when I posted chapter 1. I'm about half-way done with chapter 3 at this point.

 **::XX::XX::**

"Something is very wrong," Harry said sternly. Hermione looked at him worried. Ron was looking on in a mix of frustration and impatience. Harry had convinced Ron to talk with him this morning, instead of seeing Luna. "This is the third time I've lived today."

"Uhhh..." Hermione just sort of gaped, while Ron seemed to get upset.

"Did you really stop me from meeting someone to tell me _that_?"

"It's true," Harry said, looking as sincere as he knew how. He snapped his fingers, an idea coming to him. "Today you're meeting someone down by the lake, right? That someone is Luna. She gave Ginny a note that said she liked the windswept look your hair got after a Quidditch match."

"Did you read my note?" Ron fumed, beginning to turn red.

"No," Harry said. "How would I know it's Luna? The note doesn't say who it's from. I know because I've already lived today twice."

"You mean like you've had visions about today?" Hermione asked.

"No, I mean like... this is the third time I've woken up and it's today. Every day starts with me waking up the same way, and both times so far have ended with me dying." That got their attention.

"What?" Hermione hissed. "What do you mean dying?"

"It's true," Harry said, nodding thoughtfully. "Both times Hermione and I have been killed by Voldemort. The last thing I see is the blinding green light, and then I wake up and it's today again."

Ron and Hermione gave each other a meaningful look then turned back to Harry. He knew that look. They were patronizing him. They thought he was crazy. Although, to be fair he wasn't sure that he wasn't crazy at this point.

"That's... uh... unusual." Hermione said evenly.

"Look," Harry started firmly. "Do you know of any sort of time magic that could cause this?"

"Time magic isn't very well understood," she replied, shaking her head. "Most of the time magic that is well studied involves things other than people, such as Stasis Charms for food."

"What about the Time-Turners?" Ron asked. "You used one in Third Year."

"They are all owned by the Ministry, specifically the Department of Mysteries." Hermione seemed to pause, looking between them. "I never told you two exactly _how_ I got that Time Turner, but it was most unusual. It wasn't just to help me complete all my classes. There have been students before that wanted to take more classes than their schedule could fit, and they were all accommodated in a different way."

"Really?" Harry asked, intrigued. He had thought it odd that a Third Year student had been given such a device once he learned how rare and well-controlled they were. "Then why did you get one?"

"They were invented by the Department of Mysteries only two years before, when we were starting First Year, and one had been given by the Department to the Hogwarts staff to help study and understand its effects and limitations better. None of the staff had the, er, time to effectively test it, so late during the summer, before we arrived, Professor McGonagall asked the Department of Mysteries if she could have me test it instead." Hermione paused. "They were, uh, skeptical. But they told the Professor that I could test it for them if they could test _me_. It turned out the test was a small river stone, and all I had to do was hold it. Professor McGonagall was told that if the stone glowed blue then she could give me the Time Turner, and if it glowed orange then she couldn't."

"Hang on," Ron interjected. "You're telling me that the Department of Mysteries let you use an experimental time travel device if you held a stone and it glowed blue?" He looked at Harry baffled. "Mate, maybe it's not just you that all the strange stuff happens to."

"I was told only that it was a test, and what the outcomes might be, but not what I would receive if the test was positive, only that it would help me with my classes. Obviously the stone glowed blue, and I was given the Time Turner. Professor McGonagall had me write a report on its effects and my usage every two weeks, and told that me that the Ministry had only told her that it was limited in how far back it could go, and that it obeyed the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle."

"The Novi-what-now?" Harry asked, brows furrowed.

"Well," Hermione said with a sigh, "it's a theory that was developed by a muggle scientist about ten years ago. They've studied time travel too you know, although they think it impossible. One of the things that makes it very difficult is the possibility of a paradox, such as going into the past and doing something that prevents you from going into the past to make the change. The Novikov Self-Consistency Principle is just the idea that the Universe won't allow events that cause paradoxes to occur, even if time travel is involved."

"That's why you didn't want us to be seen," Harry said, understanding a bit better his brief trip with Hermione to save Sirius. "We hadn't seen ourselves from the future before we went back, so it couldn't happen after we used the Time Turner."

"Precisely," Hermione said with a smile. "I was told that the Department of Mysteries had tested the device extensively before giving it to the Professors, and that any time they purposefully tried to violate the Self-Consistency Principle strange and unexplainable things would happen to prevent it. If you'd been truly intent on being seen by yourself Harry, even though you hadn't seen yourself, something would have happened to prevent it. If you were very persistent, you might have slipped and broken your neck or something. The warnings I was given made it sound almost like the Universe was... alive, and unhappy about such violations."

"Well..." Harry trailed off, thinking about what he'd been told. "If it was so dangerous, why did the Department of Mysteries agree to a student testing it?"

"I think..." Hermione paused, looking between them. "I think that they agreed to have me test it for two reasons. First, I think they figured that if anyone could accidentally violate the principle it would be a child using it. Second, I believe they were uncertain what the long-term effects would be of using it, and they didn't want to test that on one of the Unspeakables." She paused again, glancing at Ron. "Honestly I think being Muggle-born helped me that time. It made me expendable enough to test it on."

Both Harry and Ron flushed at that observation, neither happy with the implication Hermione was making.

"So then," Harry started, pushing his frustration aside, "even after thousands of years, the first time travel device made was invented only six years ago? Time magic must have been studied before recently."

"Oh yes, of course," Hermione replied. "But none of that study had been made with the Self-Consistency Principle in mind. The Department of Mysteries created a new research group after learning of the idea from one of their Muggle-born members, and invented the Time Turner shortly after. It seemed that restriction was crucial in the creation of any sort of time travel device, and it was one that had just never occurred to wizards before."

"But then, how could this be magic?" Ron asked. "Harry said he's died twice. How is that not a paradox?"

"I don't know," Hermione offered. "Perhaps the reason the time travel is occurring in the first place is that his death _creates_ a paradox, but I've no idea how that could be the case."

"Hang on," Harry said. "Wouldn't that only make sense if Voldemort was traveling back in time to kill me?"

"Yes," Hermione replied nodding. "Did he seem... to know that something was different or off the second time?"

"No," Harry answered slowly. "In fact he'd even known that I'd 'seen' the day before where I'd died the first time, and yet he completely dismissed my knowledge as, er, the visions of a man close to death."

All three were silent for a few moments.

"So then, Voldemort isn't traveling back in time to kill you," Ron summed up, letting out a visible sigh of relief. "Doesn't explain how you keep waking up on the same day though."

"Well," Harry said, "I don't know if it's magic or not. I mean, I would imagine it would have to be. But all the same, why in the world do I keep dying? I'd always thought that if I died that was it."

"Maybe this happens to everyone that dies," Ron offered.

"No," Hermione replied immediately, shaking her head for emphasis. "There would be at least one record of someone who cheated death and told their tale. This certainly doesn't happen to everyone."

"Then why me?" Harry asked. Hermione gave him a thoughtful look.

"Well, assuming that's what's happening, and no offense Harry but I'm not convinced it is yet, I would imagine that it has something to do with how you die. Maybe the magic that kept you alive when you were a baby is causing our timeline to malfunction."

"You mean Voldemort is doing this to me?"

"Inadvertently." Hermione nodded. "I doubt he'd want you to experience the knowledge you could get if you could just live this day over and over."

"Knowledge?" Harry asked, confused.

"Oh yes." She nodded vigorously. "If you were stuck in some sort of time loop, you could do so many things without a care about the consequences. You could read books day after day, or work on new spells, or improve your own magic, or learn an instrument, or... well... the possibilities would be nearly endless."

Harry hadn't thought about that. If he was stuck in some sort of time vortex, then the least he could do is use it to make him a better wizard. Actually, he could use it to be better at anything. The thought was quickly exciting Harry.

"But how would I know that tomorrow was sure to be today," he asked, stopping short. He had a fleeting mental image of walking confidently to his death because he wanted to practice summoning charms, only to never wake up.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "I guess if it resets every time you die, then not dying would stop it from resetting."

"Wait..." Ron remarked quickly, "are you suggesting that Harry just throw himself at You-Know-Who, hoping to die so that he can read more books? Only you would suggest that."

"No," she said quickly. "I don't even know if I believe that's what's happening. All I'm saying is that, if it were, the only way to make sure that I woke up and it was today again would be to end the day the same way I had before. And from what Harry said, it ended with him dying."

"Hmmm..." Ron pondered, a glint in his eye. "No consequences you say? So we could, say, do something awful to Professor Snape? Or Malfoy? And never have to worry about detention?"

Hermione looked at him sourly.

"Yes, I suppose, if it really were happening." She seemed a bit disgusted at the suggestion. "But what a waste! Think of all the things you could learn! You'd have all the time in the world."

"Hermione..." Harry said cautiously, reaching out and laying his hand on her shoulder. "I'm telling the truth. The last two days have been today... and both times... I saw you die..." Ron was silent as he watched and listened, an uncomfortable thought crossing his mind.

"Why..." he began, hesitating. "Why wasn't I there? Why just Hermione?" Harry turned and looked at Ron.

"Just dumb luck I guess," Harry offered. "The first time you were completely beat and went ahead to go to sleep while me and Hermione went to get my wand. The second time you left for dinner early, so me and Hermione were alone walking to dinner." Ron seemed relieved at this explanation.

"You know I wouldn't leave you alone, right?" Ron asked. He seemed a bit ashamed for not dying, which Harry felt was rather amusing.

"Ron, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind before." He turned to face them both, glancing between them. "Anyway, I'm not sure what I should do. Last time I told Dumbledore and it actually made me die sooner. Voldemort has spies that somehow relayed nearly everything I told Dumbledore."

"Well," Hermione said thoughtfully, "you could always study. If you are caught in a time loop maybe you could learn so much magic that you could defeat Voldemort outright." Ron snorted. Harry had to admit, the idea of him simply becoming more powerful than Voldemort was a tad ridiculous.

"Umm... where would I even start?" Harry asked her. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began scribbling. Harry peered over her shoulder, wondering what she was writing.

"Here," she said, handing it to him. "This is a checklist of areas of magic to study. Just go through it each day, learning something new. Before long you'll be much stronger." Harry looked down at the parchment in his hand.

"Er, Hermione... how am I going to use this checklist tomorrow? You won't have written it yet."

She looked at the parchment, a bit stumped, and then snapped her fingers.

"The memory charms!" She dived into her pack and pulled out the charms book Harry used to do his homework the last two days. "Here, learn this first," she said, pointing to a section in the chapter they were studying.

"A Pensieve? But... I haven't... and it's so advanced..." Hermione seemed to ignore his protests, and was talking to herself.

"First we'll have to learn how to create the basin. It's a fairly simple rune arrangement, although getting that much moonstone might be a problem." She nodded to herself. "Yes, that'll work..."

Harry turned to Ron seemingly exasperated.

"This is crazy, right?" he asked. Ron shrugged.

"Not as crazy as claiming to have lived the same day three times."

Harry snapped his mouth shut.

"Ah, yeah, good point."

"Don't you see Harry?" Hermione asked. "If we can get you to learn how to use a Pensieve not only can you remember things, but you can prove what's happening."

"You mean..." Harry's eyes lit up. "I can prove to you that I'm telling the truth?" Hermione nodded, and Harry broke into a huge smile. "Well let's do it!"

"But we don't have a basin, and if you really do only have until this evening, I'm not sure we can learn it all before the day's over." Hermione seemed to despair at shooting down her own idea, but Ron simply shrugged.

"What about the Room of Requirement?" Ron suggested casually. "I bet you could get a basin there." Hermione gave Ron a quick hug, obviously excited, and looked at the bewildered boy.

"That's brilliant Ron!"

Within a half hour, Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting in the Room of Requirement, with a book from the library on using a Pensieve. A large basin to hold the memories with the correct runes was on the table in front of them, and Hermione was pouring through the volume, looking for the right way to do the spell.

The wand work was surprisingly simple, Harry thought. Most of the Pensieve's difficulty came from figuring out the right memories and getting the basin, which was made entirely of moonstone, a very difficult substance to come by and work with.

But with the basin in front of them, it only took Hermione about two hours before she was able to pull a memory from her forehead. The three of them explored the memory, which was of the conversation they'd had earlier in the common room, before getting back to the Room of Requirement.

It took Harry nearly the rest of the day to get it work, but just a few hours before dinner, Harry was finally able to pull a memory out. It was of his first conversation with Ron, on the first day he woke up.

"Well," Ron said, "I guess that's how you knew..." Hermione was just staring at the basin, perplexed.

"This is amazing, Harry. You really are living the same day over and over."

"Yeah, but talk about a bad day," he said. "It ends with me dead." Hermione looked at him, apprehensive.

"Let's take a look at that memory," she suggested. Ron seemed to cautiously agree, but Harry wasn't so sure.

"Umm... are you sure? You... die... you know?" He shrugged. "Might be a bit odd to see." Hermione hesitated before nodding firmly.

"We need to see if we can tell how he sneaks up on you," she told him.

"There's also a conversation between me and Hermione right before he shows up that, er, won't make much sense," Harry said, just remembering the conversation and realizing how awkward it would be. "It's the second half of a conversation from earlier in the day, and without context it, er, probably sounds a bit different than it is."

Harry looked at his two friends, willing them to somehow understand what he meant but knowing it was futile. Sighing, Harry performed the spell carefully, focusing on the right memory, of his first death, and slowly pulled it into the basin.

"Well," Ron started unenthusiastically, "let's go see You-Know-Who." The three of them cautiously entered the memory.

"There we are!" Hermione said, pointing to their other selves walking down the hallway. They watched as the other Harry stopped.

" _Uh, I don't have my wand."_

" _What!? How could you forget that? I don't even recall you taking it out of your pocket,"_ the memory Hermione stated.

"Both times I didn't have my wand," the real Harry told his friends. "Somehow it must have been taken out of my pocket."

" _Neither do I,"_ the memory Harry said. He checked the rest of his pockets. " _It's probably back in the Great Hall."_

" _I'll go with you to get it,"_ the memory Hermione said.

" _Well I'm exhausted,"_ the memory Ron chimed in. " _and I've still got that_ conversation _with Lavender to deal with. I'm going back to the tower, talking to her, and then I'm going straight to bed. Good luck with the wand."_ The trio watched as the memory of Ron slowly faded out of view.

"Is this it?" the real Ron asked. Harry shook his head, watching his counterpart.

"Not quite yet."

 **::XX::XX::**

The trio exited the Pensieve with strange looks at each other. Harry had forgotten, until he'd already selected the memory, the conversation he'd had with Hermione right before Voldemort showed up, and while he'd given them a warning, both Ron and Hermione had looked at him and each other with an assortment of unreadable expressions. They glanced at each other, both their faces still red, before Hermione broke the silence.

"You were right," Hermione said to Harry. "Seeing yourself die... it's a bit flustering."

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off, not quite sure what to say. The Pensieve hadn't been very helpful at discovering new information. Ron's stomach growled noisily and they all glanced at his midsection for a moment.

"Just about dinner time then, right?" Ron seemed determined to talk about something more cheerful than the cold murder they'd just witnessed, and less awkward than the conversation before it.

"Right."

Dinner was much the same as Harry remembered it from his last few times living through this day. Harry chewed thoughtfully, wondering to himself if that would become an annoyance to him. He reasoned that some things he'd be locked into no matter what he did as long as this day kept repeating.

Harry took a drink of his pumpkin juice and pulled a face. It was a bit on the sweet side.

"Oy, is your pumpkin juice too sweet?" he asked his friends, eying his cup. They glanced at his cup, then back at him curiously.

"I suppose it's a bit on the sweet side," Ron said, giving his cup another sip. Hermione put her hands out.

"Let me try." Harry handed her his cup and watched as she took a slow gulp, her face contorting. "Yes, far too sweet."

"Ruddy elves," Ron muttered to no one in particular. Hermione glared at him, setting the cup aside and pouring a new glass for Harry, which he accepted thankfully.

They left as a group, making sure everything was in order, just in case they were attacked. The trio had waited until a large group of Gryffindors were leaving, and walked with them, hands inside their pockets fingering their wands.

Yet, nothing seemed out of place, and they arrived with the large group in front of the Fat Lady unharmed. Hermione gave him a significant look before he shrugged and stepped forward.

"Password," the portrait intoned bored.

"Hippogriff," Harry said. The effect was instantaneous. Him and Hermione fell to the floor, their lungs not working, and bodies writhing in pain. The group of students was unsure of what to do, and Ron frantically dropped to his side, trying to do something to help his friends.

Harry tried to say something but his voice wasn't working, and a taste began to rise in his mouth, similar to the Pepper-Up Potion. _Of course_ , Harry thought grimly. _The pumpkin juice. Looks like it's death by poison today..._

Harry glanced over at Hermione's form, which like his was slowly starting to stop thrashing. Their eyes locked, and a silent apology passed between them as Harry's vision darkened. He felt like he was falling into nothingness.

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry was sitting on his bed, striking a thoughtful pose, contemplating his death. He'd woken up and decided against trying to explain anything to his friends, as he was frustrated at having to start all over on that front. Instead he found himself sitting on his bed, contemplating what to do.

Fate was toying with him it appeared. Or something. Harry wasn't sure what was going on, but yesterday Hermione had been right... it did represent an opportunity. In a sense, anyway. She'd even made that list for him... but he'd have to go by the Room of Requirement to retrieve that memory and take another look at the list.

Harry slowly pulled himself off his bed and glanced out the dorm window. Hermione was just about to have a go at Ron, which meant she'd be up here in a few. He grabbed his wand and then grabbed his Charms book and went down to the common room, waiting in one of the plushy chairs.

He'd actually been getting interested in the section he was reading on the mechanics of some new charms when he heard the portrait hole burst open, and a red-faced Hermione stomped into the room, completely distraught.

"Hey Hermione," Harry called out softly, setting his book down. A lot of the things that he'd avoided as a matter of course, like difficult conversations, or reading Charms books, seemed trivial now. After all, he appeared to have as much time as he wanted to read and do other things, and he had nothing to fear in difficult conversations, as no one would remember if he screwed them up. She looked up at him, startled at the voice. "I take it Ron's a prat."

"Yes," Hermione said, slowly walking over and taking a chair across from him. She pulled her knees into her chest and looked down at the ground between them. Harry was a bit startled. He'd never seen Hermione look or act so vulnerable.

"Would you like to tell me what's wrong?" Harry gave her a reassuring smile as she looked at him puzzled. It wasn't like him to be so... understanding and calm...

"Ron... just thought I was someone else," Hermione said. Harry nodded.

"He thought you left the note, right?" Harry grinned as she gave him a shocked look. "I'm his best mate, not much gets by me."

"Yeah," she said almost dejectedly. "He thought I left the note." She looked back down at the ground, obviously thinking about something.

Harry remembered... it was in his first reset, right? The conversation he'd shared with Hermione had revealed a lot about his friend that he hadn't really thought about before, including that her feelings for Ron were waning under the ginger-haired boy's efforts to, it seemed, drive her away. What with the fights, with Lavender, and now this. He considered briefly before deciding to gently let her vent once more.

"Do you like Ron?" Harry asked. Hermione looked up at him quickly, apparently startled by his question. "Fancy, I mean." She looked at him oddly before looking back at the floor, another dejected look occupying her face. It was several moments before she replied.

"No, I don't." She paused. "Not any more."

Harry watched her face, trying to pick out the things he'd seen that first day.

"Then don't worry about it," Harry said cheerily, giving her a warm smile. She looked at him, her features softening. "Whatever Ron said, it either wasn't true or doesn't matter. And he's probably going to be properly chastised by Ginny and Luna anyhow."

"Luna?" Hermione asked oddly. Her eyes widened. "You mean she's—"

"Like I said," Harry interrupted, chuckling. "I'm his best mate. Not much gets by me."

Hermione's fascination at this new information seemed to override whatever frustration or ill-will she'd been feeling, and her eyes seemed far off as she processed what she'd just been told.

"Yes... that makes sense. Well," she said much happier, "good for him."

"And good for Luna," Harry offered. Hermione gave him an odd look.

"Well... I'm not so sure about that," Hermione joked. They shared a light-hearted laugh at the joke, and Hermione wiped away her tears, the smile finally returning to her face. Harry noticed that this wasn't the first time Hermione had made a slightly sarcastic joke at Ron's expense during the course of this day, and it puzzled him slightly. Most of the time their fights involved Ron getting loud and Hermione getting frustrated, but she never really made fun of their friend, even in jest. Harry supposed, knowing what he did about Hermione, that her lack of similar comments before was due to the teasing she'd endured growing up.

Their snickering died down, and Hermione stared at him for a few moments, as if she had something else to say. Harry looked at her quizzically.

"Harry, there's something—" They were abruptly interrupted as the portrait hole opened and a rather worn looking Neville stumbled into the common room with an armful of parchment. He glanced at them, his eyes lingering on Hermione for a moment and her still-red eyes, before sitting down at a table at the far end of the room and pulling out a quill without a word. Harry shrugged and turned back to Hermione.

"What were you saying?"

"Uh... never mind," she said dismissively, glancing back at Neville. "Let's get breakfast."

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry jolted forward, panting heavily. He groaned. It was rather unnerving to wake up after being killed. This time he'd been hit with a cutting curse in the neck. It had been rather painful and gruesome. Fortunately, Hermione hadn't been there this time.

Harry looked up just in time to see Neville dash out. He glanced over at the nightstand and put on his glasses, thinking. He was certain now that this was going to continue. It appeared that Hermione had been right when she'd suggested he'd keep resetting as long as he died. Harry fell back on to his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

That meant that he'd have to learn how to beat Voldemort in a fight, and he didn't relish the thought. In fact, he felt rather scandalized at the moment. What right did fate have to do this to him? Not that he wanted to stay dead or anything, but it was still rather annoying to be trapped in a loop with very little he could do to get out.

Harry sighed and put on his clothes before rummaging through his trunk and pulling out his Charms book. He supposed that if he was going to defeat Voldemort he should start with his school work.

Harry spent the day sitting with his book, mostly ignoring the drama that he knew was unfolding around him, and though he felt a bit guilty, he made sure to avoid Hermione so that he wouldn't be forced to comfort her. In his mind, it was a bit of a runaround, since she'd be right-as-rain tomorrow morning anyway and he'd have to do it all over again.

The day ended with him once again perishing at the hands of the Dark Lord, once more his wand missing though he'd been very careful to keep track of it.

 **::XX::XX::**

"What are you reading?" Seamus asked Harry. He was sitting on his bed in the early morning with a large book, and that was highly unusual. Harry glanced up and showed Seamus the title before going back to his studying. "Our Charms book? But we're not even in that section of the book."

"Just reading a bit ahead," Harry said absently, not even looking up from the text. Seamus gave him an odd look as Dean began to stir, and before long the two had left to do whatever it was they were supposed to do that day.

Harry looked up from his book and glanced out the window. He supposed that he could get to know people rather well if he wanted to, what with them doing the same exact thing every day. If he had conversations with anyone, he'd know their reactions for whatever he said before he said it if he had the conversation enough times.

Harry raised an eyebrow at that thought. He had spent the last handful of days simply reading, not seeing much of a point in wasting time on anything else since it seemed he was a prisoner until he completed his task. He'd also discovered that as long as he didn't leave his dorm room after breakfast, he always got killed with the potion in his Pumpkin Juice, which was one of his favorite deaths so far, the alternatives being considered.

But this type of studying was wearing on him, and even though he knew that he wasn't really losing time, he found himself rather lonely and bored this morning. Sighing he put the book back in his trunk and decided to go get some breakfast. If he wasn't really losing time then he'd use today to relax and spend time with people. He could go back to studying tomorrow.

As he arrived in the Great Hall he noticed Hermione sitting down for breakfast as well. Of course, he realized. She'd been down by the Reading Tree when Ron had gone to the lake, which meant she'd gotten breakfast early today. He sat down across from her and gave her a friendly smile.

"Morning, Hermione." She looked up from the book she'd been entranced with and returned his smile.

"You're up early." Harry shrugged in reply, reaching for the bacon.

"Was getting a bit of studying in for Charms." Hermione's brow arched in disbelief. "Oh come on, it's not _that_ crazy to believe I've been studying."

"I suppose," she replied, as if measuring out her words. "Have you finished to section on memory charms?" Harry nodded as he grabbed a roll and began making himself a bacon and egg sandwich.

"Yeah. The section on which parts of the mind they affect was rather interesting. I hadn't thought about it before, but spells like _Obliviate_ only deal with experienced memory... none of the memory charms deal with learned skills."

Hermione's eyes lit up like it was Christmas, and she sat, a bit dumbfounded, unsure of how to reply.

"That's... yes, that's what I found interesting too. I still haven't found a charm that alters non-experiential memory, though I suppose there must be one. It would certainly be useful for learning new things."

"How's that?" Harry asked, taking a big bite of his makeshift breakfast sandwich.

"Think about it Harry," she said in her loving yet patronizing tone. "When you learn something new, like the motion for a new spell, or how to read a new language, it becomes part of your non-experiential memory. If you had a charm to alter that part of your memory, then you could directly affect what skills you had."

"That sounds dangerous," Harry said skeptically. Hermione looked a bit guilty before sighing.

"Yes, it would be terribly dangerous. Imagine accidentally erasing someone's ability to speak or understand speech. It would have other limitations too."

"Such as?"

"Well," she began thoughtfully. "If you were directly implanting skills into that part of someone's memory, then the person performing the charm would have to already have that skill. Additionally, if it were a skill that required muscle-memory, then they'd have to have almost identical body types and dimensions for the skill to be of any use. Otherwise it would result in clumsy actions."

Harry nodded, taking another bite. That made sense. He didn't miss how such a charm would help him speed up his current predicament, but the limitations seemed to make it somewhat useless to someone stuck in a time loop. Even if he did discover such a charm, he'd have to teach it to someone with the necessary skills, and have them perform it on him in a single day.

Additionally, Harry knew from what he'd read in the text book that adding memories was monumentally more difficult than erasing them, and he imagined that adding things to the skill memory would be just as difficult.

"Well," Hermione said, setting down her glass of orange juice. "I'm going to go have a read. I'll see you later Harry." A thought crossed his mind and he acted on impulse.

"Wait," he said as she was standing. "Don't go down by the Reading Tree."

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"Just trust me," he said, setting down the rest of his sandwich and walking with her towards the Entrance Hall. "Ron is going to come down looking for a secret admirer in about an hour, and if you're by the tree he'll think it's you."

Hermione's eyes widened and she stopped walking for a moment before scurrying after him to catch up.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm his best mate, nothing gets by me." Harry shrugged. It was astonishing how many things that excuse seemed to explain for Hermione, he decided.

"Well who's the secret admirer then?" she asked, following him outside to a good vantage point where they could see the lake shore but weren't obvious from the castle.

"Luna," Harry said, dropping down onto the grass. He smiled up at her and patted the spot next to him. "I promise this will be interesting."

Hermione slowly sat down next to him, her attention on the entrance.

"An hour you said?"

"About."

Hermione nodded absently and opened her book, though it was apparent to Harry after a short while that she wasn't actually reading. That is, unless she was reading the page about a dozen times.

"Something on your mind?"

Hermione startled at the sound of his voice, apparently forgetting that he was there. She looked at him, her mouth opening and shutting several times before looking back at her book then glancing at the entrance.

"I was just imagining how difficult it would have been if Ron had come down and decided I was a secret admirer." She paused. "He's a bit insensitive at times."

"Yeah," Harry said, thinking of the many days that had turned out just like that. "Don't worry about it though. I'm sure Ron and Luna will have a brilliant day, and we'll avoid that whole mess." Hermione nodded.

It was a bit longer before they noticed the blond haired Ravenclaw exit the school and head down by lake. From the distance they were at it was difficult to tell exactly what she was doing, but it appeared as if she was simply staring at the water.

A few minutes later Ron came out the doors and inspected the shoreline. Without Hermione under the tree, Luna was the only student out there at the moment, and the look on his face as he realized who it was turned first to disappointment, then curiosity. After all, any boy is interested in finding out what it is that a girl likes about him.

Their conversation, whatever it was, seemed to go well, and before long they were walking back into the castle. Along the way, they spotted Luna reach out and grab Ron's hand as they walked, and they could see the blush on his face all the way across the field.

Harry smiled. This was indeed a relaxing day, and he'd have to make it a point to have off days that he simply spent with his friends. He was quickly discovering the monotony was his worst enemy. Days were rather dull when you knew what was going to happen.

 **::XX::XX::**

Harry sat bolt upright, and nearly flew out of his bed, grabbing his glasses in a single motion. The move was so sudden and startling that Neville, who had been walking out the door, fell backward as he turned around at the sudden movement with a yelp.

"Sorry Neville," Harry said quietly, looking down at his trunk and pulling it open without another glance over his shoulder. He had spent the last four loops learning as much as he could about spells that affect the memory, and during his research yesterday he'd come across a potion that he was interested in trying. Supposedly it helped the person who took it keep a more ordered mind, which had the dual effects of making Occlumency easier to execute and making memory recall easier.

It had several drawbacks though. First, it was only effective for 36 hours, but Harry didn't feel that was much of a problem for him. Second, while it made Occlumency easier to execute it didn't increase the imbiber's skill at the craft at all, only increasing the effectiveness of the skill they already had. Third, two of the ingredients were extremely rare and he wasn't sure where he could get them from other than stealing them from Snape. The ingredients were rare enough however that he wondered whether even Snape would have them. Lastly, and perhaps most relevant to Harry, the potion took two weeks to brew.

So Harry was definitely interested in trying the potion, as the benefits had some pretty clear applications to his current situation, however doing so seemed like an impossibility. For one, as soon as he reset the potion would be gone no matter how much time it had left, and for another he didn't _have_ two weeks to brew a potion. No, the most time he could reasonably buy himself was 15 hours, and that was from the very moment he jolted out of bed until he reset.

However, Harry figured that if he studied _why_ this particular potion with the ingredients and preparations it had caused this effect, he might be able to come up with something that would be a bit more workable for him. The jumble of nearly a dozen days that were all variations of the same day were starting to tax him mentally, and Harry was sure that he ran the very real risk of going mad if he didn't do something.

The potion used chacruna leaf harvested during a blue moon and ayahuasca harvested during the winter solstice, neither of which were plants that grew in Europe, let alone Britain.

Harry pulled his Herbology texts out, all the years he still had, as well as his copy of their Potions text complete with notes from the Half-Blood Prince, and marched out of the dormitory toward the Room of Requirement, intent on spending the rest of the day researching more about how ingredients imbued potions with their specific effects. He supposed this was the sort of thing that he should have learned more about by Sixth Year, but potions had always been his least favorite class for obvious reasons, and Herbology had never really held his interest.

Within minutes he'd reached the room and found a comfortable reading chair with a vine-looking plant behind it and a cauldron in front of it. Harry nodded his approval to the room before setting down and getting to work, thoroughly absorbed in what he was doing.

For hour after hour Harry poured over the books he brought, and those the room provided. He slowly began to put together a theoretical understanding of potions and plants that he'd somehow managed to avoid the previous six years, and he found the topic fascinated him. He'd always had to cook meals for the Dursleys, and when he'd first come to Hogwarts he'd been looking forward to Potions class as being something close to a skill he'd possessed.

Snape had made sure that his hope was short-lived, but as he read he began to realize that the comparison was more apt than he'd realized. Each ingredient could contribute one 'essence' per application to a potion. The strongest 'essence' in the ingredient always was the one contributed, so for ingredients that had multiple properties they could contribute, the different preparations like diced, crushed, and so on changed the relative strength of the different properties within the ingredient.

Knowing what preparation would bring out which properties in each ingredient was a time-consuming process for Potions Masters to discover. Most of the ingredients they used in potions were stabilizing agents to allow different properties to combine without interfering, increase the duration of the effects, or lengthen the amount of time that a potion would remain viable after preparation.

The stirs, particularly the direction of stirring and the number of stirs, allowed direct contact between the magic of the person preparing the potion and the different ingredients. The direction and number of stirs were important not so much because it mattered to the ingredients, but because like wand movements and incantations it shaped the potioneers magic into specific configurations that helped bind the ingredients in the desired ways.

He understood a bit better now how and why the Half-Blood Prince had made the notes he did, although Harry would not be able to make the same improvements himself. The study session gave him his first true appreciation for the craft that Snape had soured him to, and he idly wondered why this information wasn't covered during his previous classes. Maybe it had been and he just hadn't been paying attention? Although then Hermione would definitely have caught it. Perhaps it had been slated for N.E.W.T. level, and the change in professors had delayed it?

Whatever the reason, Harry found this new insight incredibly fascinating, and continued his study long past when he'd planned. He was so preoccupied that he missed all three meals, and before Harry even realized what time it was, he'd drifted off to sleep, safe in the unreachable Room of Requirement that he'd summoned to study potions plants.

When Harry awoke with a jolt in his bed, Neville slipping out the dormitory door only moments later, and the haze of sleep finally left him, he sat there completely unsure of what to do. He'd survived. There was no way Voldemort would have been able to get to him inside the Room of Requirement without knowing the exact room Harry had conjured; Harry had experienced the same problem trying to follow Malfoy. In fact, Harry wondered why he hadn't thought before to hide in the Room of Requirement and try to survive the day that way.

Still, this development was much more alarming than it was comforting, for Harry still found himself waking up in his bed at the beginning of Saturday, despite having definitely survived. All his theories, as crazy as they were, about the cause of the time loops he'd been experiencing were thrown out the window, and Harry decided that studying potions and memory charms and school work could wait. He needed to know more about what was happening to him before he went any further, as the problem he was experiencing was apparently more complicated than he'd thought.

Harry put on his glasses, grabbed his wand and his schoolbag, then headed towards the library. It was time that he put some serious effort into studying what exactly was happening to him.


End file.
